The University of Wyoming revealed their new slogan on the state’s birthday. “The World Needs More Cowboys.” The world does plain and simple. If you think this is a racist or sexiest slogan, please let me introduce you to the first “cowboys”, the Vaqueros. Wait? What? Yes, the first cowboys were not Caucasian. They were Hispanic. We still use the Spanish words for parts of the western saddle. Any cowboy worth his salt knows his/her knowledge comes from the Spanish/Indian cowboys of the Southwest. If that isn’t enough, it is believed by historians that 1/4 to 1/3 of cowboys during the 1800s, were African American. Former slaves fleeing their masters, the Civil War and its aftermath found their place in the Cowboy way of life. Some chose the good side (Bass Reeves
and some became legends (Isom Dart
The Cowboy, while the name masculine, does not discount women. It is a word that takes the feminine term, Cowgirl, when there are only women present. Another nod to the Spanish heritage. Even so, the word didn’t deny women who chose the same life as their brother counterparts. The Cattle Queen of Texas (Lizzie Johnson Williams) was able to build her own ranch and legacy as a woman, driving cattle right along side her men. Calamity Jane, Cattle Kate, and Elinore Pruitt Stewart
Anyone, who is labeled a Cowboy is proud to own it. It is not a name that represents color, race or sex. It represents a way of life. A code, unwritten but followed.
1. Live each day with courage
2. Take pride in your work
3. Always finish what you start
4. Do what has to be done
5. Be tough, but fair
6. When you make a promise, keep it
7. Ride for the brand
8. Talk less and say more
9. Remember that some things aren’t for sale
10. Know where to draw the line.
There are variations as the years have gone but Cowboys still follow these ten. They are respected no matter their skin, or gender but rather their skill and reliability. The ranch life is hard. There is no time for silliness and personal nonsense to get the way. These ten reasons are why I write Westerns. There is something to be said about men and women who respect each other, love God’s creation and work hard to tend to their animals and their families. The world does need more cowboys and girls. Men and Women who live up to a higher code of conduct as they leave college and enter the real world.
Whitney Buckley 
I moved to FE Warren AFB, Cheyenne Wyoming from England AFB, Alexandria La, in 1981, graduated early from Central in 1983, attended LCCC, and the University of Wyoming until I moved to Seattle Washington in 1987. I was an International Studies Student: Foreign Policy and Journalism. I was on the University of Wyoming Rugby team.
My last name is the result of a man named Francois Antoine LaRocque who was a scout for Lewis and Clark. He wrote a Journal that became-“Journal of LaRocque from the Assiniboine to the Yellowstone, 1805.
I returned to Wyoming the summer of 2016 with my two daughters in order to deal with legal matters related to the death of my wife who was a tenured professor and an ESE educator. My deceased wife was born in Israel.
“Cowboys” are predominately white males. Should women and minorities strive to be a “Cowboy”? Should African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Latinos, and Latinas strive to be a “Cowboy”? Should Native Americans be Cowboys?
Should the Arapahoe and Shoshoni youth on the Wind River Reservation go UW and try to be like “Cowboys” or is it OK to be Native Americans? There is a dynamic of imposing cultural and ethnic identities upon others, which was clearly overlooked and/or simply not understood.
One may like to consider the role that “Cowboys” and ranchers played in the genocide of the Native American population including the Sand Creek Massacre. “Cowboys” and ranchers own that massacre.
The murder of Mathew Shepard is still the number one thing people outside the state associate with Laramie/UW. I would have advocated a campaign that centered on “The Equality State” and inclusion of all people and not just the image associated with that of a white male.
“The World Need More Cowboys” misses the mark on a number of levels and was a waste of resources. Someone from Boulder to do the work? Does not seem that “Cowboys” would need “Greeners” to do their thinking and work for them. “Outsourcing” work goes against the “Cowboy Code” and “Cowboy Up.”
Cheers,
W. LaRocque
Delray Beach, FL
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William,
Thank you for your comment and your opinion. (I would like to read the Journal) While I agree with you on the idea of outsourcing and the waste of money on this campaign, I wish to stand by what I said. If people, no matter their race or sex, choose not to be the University of Wyoming, that is their choice. I feel that if more people lived by the Cowboy Code as I mentioned, we would/could trust our neighbors. I grew up around cattle/ranches/farms my whole life and the sense of community among these people is amazing and no, they were not all white or male. They stop on the side of the road to change a tire on a car from California, Texas, and Ontario. They watch their neighbors’ children in emergencies. They come together to help another in dire straits. When cars are stuck in snow on campus, people stop. One gives a tow rope, multiple people walk by to push, and a truck pulls them out. All are strangers. I don’t know who wouldn’t want to belong to that type of community. Now how to turn that into a motto/brand, I don’t know.
I hope that your experience at UW was good. I am sorry for the loss of your spouse. I am sure she was a lovely woman, offering her gift of teaching to many.
PS. As a Wyomingite, I am embarrassed by the Matthew Shepherd situation. A horrible drug/hate crime. Please check out the Shepherd Symposium to see the silver lining.
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